Speaker
Description
The SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment is currently being commissioned at the Canadian underground facility SNOLAB. The experiment uses four detector towers that contain 24 detectors in total, including both interleaved Z-dependent Ionization and Phonon (iZIP) and high-voltage (HV) detectors with germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) targets. The iZIP detectors measure both charge and phonon signals and thus enable direct rejection of electron recoil backgrounds, while the HV detectors use Neganov-Trofimov-Luke (NTL) amplification to probe lower dark matter masses. Lighter Si targets provide reach to lower masses, while Ge targets of the same volume provide better cross-section reach due to higher atomic mass and absence of the $\mathrm{^{32}Si}$ cosmogenic background. The experiment is expected to achieve a total exposure of approximately $90\,\mathrm{kg\cdot yr}$ over four years. Prior sensitivity projections indicate that SuperCDMS SNOLAB will explore new dark matter phase space, probing the dark matter-nucleon cross section down to $10^{-43}\,\mathrm{cm^2}$ for masses from 1 to 10 $\mathrm{GeV/c^2}$, approaching the sensitivity needed to detect coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering ($\mathrm{CE\nu NS}$) of $\mathrm{^8B}$ solar neutrinos. Fully realizing the discovery potential of SuperCDMS in this new phase space requires: 1) accurate background spectral models, 2) well-calibrated detector response and associated uncertainties, and 3) a statistical framework capable of incorporating multiple background models and uncertainties across various detectors. This contribution discusses the readiness of the SuperCDMS SNOLAB Profile Likelihood Ratio (PLR) statistical analysis toolkit to meet these requirements and thereby facilitate upcoming dark matter searches.
| Main Contribution topic | Direct detection |
|---|---|
| Secondary contribution topic | Light Dark Matter |